Coast and country need bigger voice say Māori ward contenders

Te Kurae ward candidates say coastal and rural communities need more say at the council table. Photo/ NZME

The two candidates for the Māori ward covering the west of South Taranaki both say coastal and rural communities need more say at the council table.

Te Kūrae ward covers the rohe of Ngāruahine and Taranaki, stretching from the Hangatāhua River near Ōkato around to State Highway 3 through Eltham, Normanby and Te Hāwera.

Leanne Horo (Ngāruahine, Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Maru) is standing for Te Kūrae.

She said often voices from smaller towns like Kāponga and Normanby and along the coast were missing.

"Ōpunakē would be our biggest town and then sometimes things stop there."

Her rival Caroline Waiwiri (Ōkahu of Ngāruahine, Ngāti Tupaea of Ngāti Ruanui) said the council often seemed to have a narrow focus.

"I'm guessing a lot of our people just see the town – but it's more than just the Hāwera town."

But primarily Waiwiri said the new wards were a fresh chance for Māori to be heard.

"Knowing how hard our people fought to get those seats I thought why not put my hand up, and make sure … that people stand and have that space at the council table."

Leanne Horo says the council and community are ready for more Māori influence. (Te Korimako o Taranaki)

Horo said the Māori wards are about bringing community views to the council table.

"Not to speak on behalf of our people but to represent our people and their voices."

Horo began in governance on primary and high school boards, and has been on the board of Taranaki iwi in its various iterations over the past 15 years, including time as the chair.

"When the aunties tell someone to ask you, and you get bailed up in the supermarket, you say 'not sure but if I can help I'll come along' and then end up on the board," she laughed.

She is the Taranaki iwi rep on the strengthened Iwi-Māori Partnership Board under the new health reforms and was a waka representative on the region's mayoral forum.

Horo has also sat on the council liaison committee for the iwi, but Te Kāhui Matauraura did not have final decision-making power.

She said Māori ward councillors would bring mana whenua and tangata whenua full voting influence at the council table.

"I just think hearing what the needs of our people are, and then being able to translate and transfer that information to a place of influence."

Waiwiri lives with four generations of her whānau in Ōpunakē, after 20 years in the capital working as an executive assistant, notably with Wellington's regional council for seven years. Home for 15 years, she was executive assistant to Spencer Carr at Parininihi ki Waitōtara for seven years.

Waiwiri has been on the board of Rāhotu Primary and the executive committee for Ōpunakē kindergarten, and currently she's chair of Wharepuni Marae and Ngāti Tupaea hapū rep on Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui.

She said water was a chief concern, particularly making sure Three Waters reforms are good for everyone, not just big cities.

"Ōpunakē, in the long periods of heavy rains, you get the brown water and it's horrible.

"You can fill up your bathtub and you don't want to sit in it because it's brown and looks paru! They tell you it's safe but no one wants to bathe in that."

Caroline Waiwiri says water supply quality needs to improve in Ōpunakē. (Te Korimako o Taranaki)

Horo is also worried about infrastructure, especially when a new subdivision is proposed.

"We want housing development, but in the smaller communities can they sustain it? What's the infrastructure? We're on tank water, we're on septic tanks.

"In the townships the main supply is temperamental to weather conditions and sometimes the main station water pump will go out and you'll get no water."

Both believe the wider community is becoming more responsive to iwi and hapū having a greater say.

Waiwiri pointed to the ground-breaking return of Te Ngutu o te Manu to Ngāruahine from STDC.

"From what I've seen of the council they're doing okay. I think they've got a good relationship with Māori out here."

Horo said it was timely and exciting to have two Māori wards on the 14-seat council, and hoped to ease stiff meeting rules into more genuine kōrero.

"Maybe to stretch it a little bit, to see if there're any workarounds.

"I think the timing is right, there is willingness. I don't think it's a closed door at all – and also the wider community have changed in their thinking."

Anyone on the Māori electoral roll can vote in the Māori ward elections.

Voting papers have already been mailed out and need to be returned by midday, 8 October.

If you're not enrolled, you can still vote: pick up special voting papers at the council offices in Te Hāwera or any district library.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.